There is a need in the footwear industry to provide for lighted footwear which enables the wearer to be seen for security purposes. For example, lights in footwear are known to enable a wearer to be seen at nighttime where the wearer would not normally be viewed by another. This is particularly true when a driver of an automobile cannot, under ordinary night conditions, see a pedestrian due to poor or non-existent lighting.
In addition, the fashion aspect of lighted footwear has been well received by consumers who desire to wear new and different types of footwear. A number of these devices have been patented as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,315 to Irving et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,133 to Duval; U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,247 to Dana, III; U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,155 Reichert; U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,861 to Pelengaris; U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,253 to McCormick; U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009 to Rodgers; U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,212 to Evanyk; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,586 to Goldston et al.
While the referenced prior patents achieve their intended purposes, they do not address the use of lights contiguous with injection molded footwear. These references generally relate to dress or casual footwear with large heels or heels that are removable. A number of the prior art patents provide access to the light emitting device, the power source or other circuitry in order to maintain those components. Still other references teach interchangeable light emitting devices or modules all of which do not address the inherent unitary structure of an injection molded sole or shoe.
In addition, the identified prior art do not disclose a light emitting module that requires no maintenance. They further do not teach a light emitting module that comprises the power and circuitry to produce a device that will last as long as the normal life span of typical footwear.
A further limitation of the designs depicted by the prior art is the failure to address the method of manufacturing a light emitting module contiguous with the sole of the shoe produced by the process of injection molding.